Customer Journeys

I used to be a Journalist with TV Week and in order to look glamorous I had to have my outfits specially made, so why would I go and exercise?  My best friend & Editor at the time (when I was twenty three) had weight issues so she pleaded with me to play squash with her after work.  She was great, however she was about six foot tall and I was five foot three inches and I hated it because I would run all over the court while she stood there belting out balls for me to run after.

We figured I was losing weight and she wasn’t, so that’s when she asked me to attend a yoga class.  I would either fall asleep or wish for the session to be over.  After having my daughter at twenty nine years old I noticed back and neck pain, this being that she was too heavy for me to carry her and lift her out of the cot.  So I then got tested for Osteoporosis because my mum had it and no doctor I saw back in the 80’s and 90’s ever recommended exercise or even walking.

I then had a hip replacement at fifty, to which my specialist said I was a little on the young side to have it but I was Bone on Bone.  For two years prior to the operation I had tried Chiropractors, Chinese medicine, Osteopaths, Physiotherapists, Cortisone Injections, you name it.  I did it.  Apart from the exercise after the operation I found walking in a heated pool helped, but I did the bare minimum.  I started getting daily pain in my neck and back and my GP said just take PANAFEN PLUS which is a combination of Panadol and Codeine which I took regularly ultimately resulted in causing me to have my stomach removed three years ago.  This was because the PANAFEN PLUS caused an ulcerated stomach.

It was a nine hour operation and for my recuperation was to rest with again no exercise. This resulted in addiction getting hold of me and I eventually checked myself into an addiction clinic for eight weeks which was followed by a further four months of outpatient therapy.

I am now over my addiction to pain killers and fortunately for me I found an amazing compassionate Drug & Alcohol GP who recommended I attend an Exercise Physiologists at Sage Active Clinic in Bay St Brighton.  I remember my first meeting with the owner Rob telling me they had free walking groups that I could join and my face dropped and I said; “I don’t walk, I hate it!”  So on recommendation I tried the one on one Exercise Physiologists, Jake Holness, who went to the trouble to find out about my ailments from my GP and he knew exactly what I needed to work on.  Three months later and I am now addicted to exercise.  I am now using muscles and parts of my body that I had forgotten I had and I am walking six kilometres a day with my dog Olly who was overweight and he loves it.  We go to the beach rain, hail or shine.

I have missed a couple of sessions with Jake and I hate it, my body knows it.  Please try SAGE ACTIVE CLINIC as they also have a Myotherapist, Damien who is remarkable.  He has stretched me and massaged muscles I didn’t know were there.  SAGE ACTIVE CLINIC looks at you as a whole person and they concentrate on all of your body.  I can’t recommend them more highly.  Don’t take pain killers to fix your problems.  Through natural exercise, you’ll feel so much better.

Don’t be afraid of being overweight this is NOT a gym with people wearing skimpy outfits, they don’t care what you wear.  If you are thinking but I’m unfit.  I won’t be able to do anything.  That was me.  They are very astute as they start very slowly with whatever you can do and encourage you that it is great that you have made a start.  They will not give you any exercise that will hurt you or that you can’t do.  I have a balance problem and have always fallen over at the drop of a hat, so Jake gets me to walk in a straight line forward and backwards and after a few months it has worked.  I haven’t fallen since doing that exercise.

I currently have a crushed vertebrae and Jake is building up my neck and shoulder muscles and as a result I have been given specific exercises to do at home.  They are helping me a lot.  There really is no cure for Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis but at Sage Active Clinic they teach you how to manage your conditions and become stronger all over.  I call Jake Holness a “Miracle worker”.

If I can get off my bum and do the exercises he has given me anyone can do it.  Talk to the owner Rob about your problem and he will look after you.  Take that first step and I will bet you, that you will go back because you are feeling so much better.  I would also like to mention that because of my arthritic hands I couldn’t even open jars and more importantly my petrol tank cap which I hated asking someone for help to do it.  Now after eight weeks I can do it, in fact I even help my husband and my friends open jars now.  It may sound like a little thing to you, however it was big for me to get my independence back.  I didn’t want to rely on people as self-reliance is a big thing for me.